108 things from this book went into her brain. Here are the first 6.
In Sense and Sensibility, Austen shows how a generous promise feels easy to make while it costs nothing to imagine, and how much harder it is to keep once the cost is real.
In Sense and Sensibility, Austen shows Elinor with a warm heart and the judgement to govern it. Feeling deeply and acting sensibly can go together.
In Sense and Sensibility, Austen shows grief being nursed and even sought out. Elinor feels the same loss just as keenly, yet still does what the people around her need.
In Sense and Sensibility, Mrs John Dashwood reasons her way out of a generous promise one plausible step at a time. Austen shows how easily self-interest can pass itself off as good sense.
In Sense and Sensibility, Mrs Dashwood judges a suitor by his character rather than his fortune. She holds that people alike in disposition should not be kept apart by money.
In Sense and Sensibility, Austen values Edward for his open, affectionate heart rather than for looks or ambition. His family wants him distinguished in some vague way that he does not care for.
In Sense and Sensibility, Marianne sets a standard for a husband so high that she is sure no one will meet it. Austen lets the reader see how demanding perfection can leave a person alone.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor says a person's worth only shows to those who take the trouble to know them past shyness and a first impression.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor will not let wishes pass for hopes, or hopes for certainties. She tries to see the real state of things before she acts on her feelings.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor will not claim more certainty about Edward than she has. Her sister's imagination has already run well ahead of the facts.
In Sense and Sensibility, one friendly letter changes Mrs Dashwood's whole view of where she should live. Austen shows how a kindness at the right moment can reorder what once seemed out of the question.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor sets aside her own reluctance and does not oppose her mother's plan, because it is sensible on its merits. She judges a plan by its sense, not by how she feels about it.
In Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwoods agree to appear happy for one another's sake. That shared choice does much of the work of making a new place feel like home.
In Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwoods learn to be content with a modest house as it is. They make it a home by arranging their own belongings around them.
In Sense and Sensibility, Sir John Middleton shows his welcome in practical deeds, such as garden produce and carrying their post, rather than in fine words. Austen measures kindness by what it does.
In Sense and Sensibility, Austen shows the Middletons filling their lives with company and sport, a busyness that covers a lack of inner resources. She is gentle about it, but clear-eyed.
In Sense and Sensibility, Sir John takes real pleasure in welcoming newcomers and helping those whose fortunes have fallen. Austen suggests a good heart finds its satisfaction in kindness itself.
In Sense and Sensibility, Marianne softens her harsh judgements and comes to respect Colonel Brandon for his quiet attention, making allowance for his years. Her sensibility grows into fairness.
In Sense and Sensibility, Mrs Jennings is quick to see romance everywhere. Her eagerness to spot attachments makes her certain of things that are only guesses.
In Sense and Sensibility, Marianne reads every small sign as proof of a secret, while Elinor keeps her self-command. Austen shows how over-reading can be its own kind of blindness.
In Sense and Sensibility, Austen shows Marianne turning a stranger into the hero of a favourite story. She warns how quickly a lively fancy supplies what it has not yet seen.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor asks the sensible questions about a stranger: where he comes from and what he has. Marianne is taken with his manner. Austen contrasts the two ways of judging.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor points out that a friendship built in a hurry on shared tastes has little left to discover. Austen shows how frankness can be mistaken for intimacy.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor sees Willoughby's fault clearly: he says what he thinks without regard for people or circumstances. Austen shows that charm can hide a want of caution.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor respects Colonel Brandon for his gravity and reserve and pities the hurts she guesses at. Austen shows her seeing worth that the lively young people overlook.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor takes pains to talk with people others overlook. She tells Willoughby and Marianne that dismissing a man for being quiet is an injustice.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor warns that judging a person's faults in the mass, from one's own imagination, makes fair praise sound cold. Austen shows the cost of judging from fancy.
In Sense and Sensibility, Marianne and Willoughby are so open with their feelings that ridicule cannot shame them. Elinor's quiet advice about self-command goes unheeded. Austen weighs candour against prudence.
In Sense and Sensibility, Colonel Brandon warns that when romantic ideals give way, they can harden into something more dangerous. Austen lets his own old hurt show through his caution.
In Sense and Sensibility, Marianne accepts a costly gift with delight before weighing what it will cost. Elinor is the one who thinks of the consequences. Austen shows how generosity can be imprudent.
In Sense and Sensibility, Marianne holds that intimacy depends on disposition, not on time. Austen lets the reader test that claim against how the story unfolds.
In Sense and Sensibility, Colonel Brandon is mindful of other people's feelings on every occasion, and quietly steers a company away from a painful subject. Austen shows tact as a form of kindness.
In Sense and Sensibility, Willoughby assumes the worst of a man's motives with no evidence, and Marianne agrees at once. Austen shows how easily a group can settle on an unkind story.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor reminds her sister that how pleasant an outing is does not prove it was proper. Austen shows how a good time can blind a person to what others see.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor is puzzled by a secrecy that hides nothing, yet she chooses to wait rather than press her sister. Austen shows patience as a kind of respect.
In Sense and Sensibility, Willoughby's warm words run well ahead of his actions. Austen shows that feelings expressed beautifully are not the same as promises kept.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor resolves to judge everyone candidly and allows that a person may have good reasons they cannot yet share. Austen gives her honesty and generosity together.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor separates wanting proof of affection from wanting proof of an engagement. Austen shows how wishful reading can pass itself off as evidence.
In Sense and Sensibility, Austen shows Marianne feeding her grief on purpose, choosing the songs and books that hurt most. She takes the intensity of a feeling for proof of its worth.
In Sense and Sensibility, Mrs Dashwood's tender delicacy shuts out the plain questions that common care and prudence would ask. Austen shows that kindness also needs honesty.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor chooses to treat Edward by their past kindness and family ties rather than by his present coldness. Austen shows steady conduct as a form of fairness.
In Sense and Sensibility, Edward says he wants to be happy in his own way, not in the way his family would choose for him. Austen lets him make a quiet case for modest contentment.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor admits she often misjudges people, fancying them gayer or graver than they are, and guided by what others say instead of by taking time to judge. Austen models self-correction.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor notices that a person can drop one affectation only to pick up another. Austen is always alert to the pose behind a pretence.
In Sense and Sensibility, Marianne blurts out a hurtful remark, and her regret is as sharp as the pain she caused. Austen shows how thoughtlessness can wound even a warm heart.
In Sense and Sensibility, Mrs Dashwood argues that a real calling gives a person interest and direction, so they know where to go. Austen makes the case that purpose is a kindness a person owes themselves.
In Sense and Sensibility, Edward admits he drifted into idleness because nobody helped him find work that suited him. Austen shows how a life without purpose can be shaped by other people's choices.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor keeps busy and neither seeks nor avoids Edward's name, so her grief does not grow. Austen contrasts her quiet self-command with Marianne's deliberate sorrow, and shows both as ways of acting on feeling.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor reasons that when company feels tedious, the change may lie with the listener rather than the hosts. Austen models fair-minded self-examination.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor sees that Mr Palmer's contempt for others comes from a wish to seem superior, and that rudeness wins no one's affection. Austen shows scorn as often a costume for insecurity.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor knows that glowing praise for newcomers tells you little, since good people are found everywhere. Austen trusts the reader to tell praise apart from proof.
In Sense and Sensibility, Austen notes that flattery wins over people who crave praise for their children, and that the most eager flatterers are often the most calculating. Her eye for social performance is sharp.
In Sense and Sensibility, Marianne cannot say what she does not feel, while Elinor is kind without pretending. Austen shows politeness and honesty sitting side by side.
In Sense and Sensibility, Sir John thinks that being in the same room is the same as being close. Austen lets the gap between proximity and real friendship show plainly.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor pities Lucy's lack of education but judges her lack of sincerity more harshly. Austen separates sympathy for a person's circumstances from judgement of their character.
In Sense and Sensibility, Austen shows Elinor keeping her self-command after a painful shock. Composure under strain is a choice a person can make, even when they feel it sink.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor weighs Edward's fault against his affection and judges him fairly even while she is hurt. Austen shows that fairness can survive a painful wound.
Austen shows Elinor bearing a private sorrow alone so her mother and sister are spared it. Carrying a hurt quietly can be a kindness to the people you love.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor gets her way through a little tact that pleases everyone at the table. Austen contrasts it with Marianne, who scorns that kind of address and loses something by it.
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor stops reopening a painful subject once it only hurts her. Austen shows that knowing when to end a conversation that wounds you is a form of self-respect.
